Women's groups call on Chafee to veto 'father-daughter' dance bill

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - More than a dozen women's groups are calling on Governor Chafee to veto legislation approved by the General Assembly that would allow school districts to continue holding "father-daughter" dances and other gender-specific events.

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By
Philip Marcelo
Posted Jul. 15, 2013 @ 11:27 am

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - More than a dozen women's groups are calling on Governor Chafee to veto legislation approved by the General Assembly that would allow school districts to continue holding "father-daughter" dances and other gender-specific events.

The bill came in response to complaints over Cranston public school's decision to host a "father-daughter" dance for female students and a field trip to a baseball game for male students. In response, the school district cancelled the "father-daughter" dance.

The bill -- S-12A -- amended state law to permit schools "to provide activities for students of one sex provided that reasonably comparable activities are provided for students of the other sex." It was introduced by Sen. Hanna M. Gallo, who is a Cranston Democrat and also a speech pathologist for the Cranston School Department.

In a letter to Chafee, opponents argued that the bill is a "clear violation" of federal antidiscrimination laws that potentially exposes school districts to costly litigation.

They said that the bill is overly broad and vague, effectively permits separation of boys and girls in all school extracurricular activities, and sanctions activities that "reflect sex stereotypes."

The Cranston girl dances/boy baseball outings "embodied the very type of sex stereotypes that school-related anti-discrimination laws are designed to prevent," the groups said in their letter. "Rhode Island public schools should not be in the position of telling girls and boys which programs or activities they should be interested in based solely on their sex."

Among the groups opposed are the National Coalition of Women and Girls in Education, National Women's Law Center, American Association of University Women, ACLU Women's Rights Project, Women's Sports Foundation, the National Council of Jewish Women, the Women's Fund of Rhode Island, and the R.I. National Organization for Women, among others.